


Something Else

by MrsWalkerWrites (Joyfulnerd)



Category: Choices: Stories You Play, Pixelberry, PlayChoices, The Royal Romance (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-08 19:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13464993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joyfulnerd/pseuds/MrsWalkerWrites
Summary: MC (Louisa) shares her worries with Drake during one of their moments in between.





	Something Else

“What am I doing here, Drake?,” Louisa’s voice is a whisper. Drake turns to look at her, unsure of how to answer. Having a drink with me? Sneaking around behind the prince’s back? Drake feels his gut clench at that thought. What are they doing here? Before he can answer, Louisa continues speaking.

“I feel like I’m in over my head. I mean, one day I’m waitressing at a dive bar in New York and then the next I’m on a plane on my way to Europe and I’m competing on The Bachelor: Cordonian Royalty Edition.” She huffs out an incredulous laugh.

Drake relaxes slightly when he realizes she means what is she doing here in Cordonia, not what is she doing in this dark cellar drinking whisky with him in the middle of the night.

“Sometimes I think, hell yes, I can do this,” Louisa says with a determined look in her eye. “I can be a queen. I can bring a commoner’s perspective to the Cordonian court. I can help you keep Liam grounded. I can be a voice for the people.”

Drake is about to agree, but Louise plows on, her works tumbling out rapidly.

“And then I think, why on earth am I here? You all knew me a total of 6 hours. That’s it! I have no clue how you rule a freakin’ country. I’m not Cordonian. I’m just some American who got wrapped up in a world she knows nothing about.”

Drake sees a flare of panic in Louisa’s eyes and there are tears in her eyes. She gasps for breath as her words come to a sudden stop. Drake can practically see the anxiety rolling off her.

“Hey, come here.” Drake hesitates for a brief moment and then wraps her up in a hug. She slips her arms around his waist, the warmth of her body seeping into his skin. He lets her cry and he can feel her hot tears soaking into the fabric of his shirt.

It breaks his heart to see her like this. He knows how hard it is be here, how intense the Cordonian courts can be. They broke Savannah. After years of being amongst the nobility and their privileged, elitist attitudes, Drake himself has only survived by building up walls so thick and high that nobody got through. Nobody until this woman. So he holds her and lets her cry. He knows she needs someone outside the court to confide in.

Beyond all of that, he has no clue what to say anyway. Is it his duty to encourage her to stay? And if he doesn’t, is that a betrayal of his best friend? Liam cares for this woman. In fact, in the lifetime of friendship they’ve shared, Drake has never seen Liam look at a woman the way he looks at Louisa.

Or maybe he’s betraying her, this surprisingly acerbic and honestly kind-hearted woman, if he tells her to stay when she seems so unsure about it. Drake sighs and holds her just a bit tighter.

Whatever he does, Drake knows he’s the one who is going to end up hurt. He wants her to stay, but his reasons are more selfish than he’d care to admit. What he’s feeling right now could screw everything up for Liam, for Louisa…hell, for all of Cordonia. The things he wants to say are lodged in his throat, choking him. Stay because there’s something here, something between us, something real. Go because I don’t think I stand to watch you and Liam fall in love. The thoughts whirl around Drake’s head.

When he finally speaks, Drake’s words betray his feelings. His voice betrays the pain he feels speaking them.

“You’re doing great, Louisa. Liam cares you…very much. You’re doing great. Even though you’ve only been here for a little while, you’ve made an impact on Liam, on the court, on…a lot of people. You’re…amazing.”

“Really?” Louisa asks. She sniffles and wipes at the tears in her eyes.

“Really,” Drake says, allowing himself one more moment of holding her in his arms, “and you should stay…if you want to. If you don’t think you can do this or it’s not the right place for you, tell Maxwell and go home to New York. You’re doing just fine, but it’s up to you.”

Reluctantly, Drake finally pulls back and lets Louisa go. He digs in his pocket and produces a handkerchief. It was his mother’s and then Savannah’s. He keeps it on him to keep them close. Wordlessly, he offers it her and Louisa accepts it with a laugh.

“Are you for real right now? An actual handkerchief? Drake, you are…something else,” she looks up at him with those big doe eyes. They crinkle at the corners as she smiles and in them Drake thinks he sees something else, something far more tender.

So are you, he thinks to himself but says nothing.

“Don’t tell me what that something is, Tennant. I’m sure whatever it is, it’s not gonna be very flattering.”

She laughs again and Drake doesn’t know how that one sound can make him so happy. Whatever happens next, he’s gonna have to watch his step.

“Now, it’s getting late, and I don’t want to get you in any trouble.”


End file.
